In a new interview with People, the 66-year-old actor admitted he had a “bad time” when ABC nixed the beloved sitcom following Roseanne Barr’s controversial tweet about former White House adviser Valerie Jarrett.

While Goodman may have seemed to keep a cool and collective demeanor, he revealed at the time it felt like he was suffocating to death:

“I was consciously trying to accept it. Just like, ‘Okay, this is happening, just breathe and go with it.’ Underneath I’m trying to get out of a plastic bag that is closing in on me, but I’m trying to be calm on the surface. I remember that contradiction.”

Sounds awful!

But the bad news didn’t stop there. He added:

“And then other things started going wrong. I fell down the steps and broke a rib. My wife got sick — just all kinds of weird stuff happened at one time. But I just had a feeling that it would work out.”

While many fans have vowed not to tune in without Ro-Ro piloting the ship, Goodman hopes viewers will still watch to see the Connors reacting “to what’s missing but everything else is pretty much the same.” He added:

“There was a debt owed to this fictional family. We want to finish telling this story.”

But do the people want to keep hearing it? We’ll find out when The Conners — starring Goodman, Sara Gilbert, Laurie Metcalf, and basically the entire Roseanne cast sans its core cast member — debuts October 16.

Watch the spin-off’s first teaser (below) to get a taste of the Roseanne-less show.